"atlas shrugged" will change the face of american politics

[Modbert]

"Book" isn't a proper noun in the above sentence and shouldn't be capitalized.

Well some of them do consider it their bible.

 

[Modbert]

She died because she had a 100 pack year habit and got lung cancer.

Medicare picked up the bill for her treatment.

True story.

And she thought that lung cancer was just an American plot to hurt corporations.

True story.

 

[MaggieMae]

The Book has been a fool proof indicator of intelligence. Idiots hate it. Nuff said.

That bothers me, too, but for a different reason. I don't think there's enough intelligence representing the right to make a dent. How many people will just take what YOU and others who do have intelligence and just jump on the bandwagon without having a clue? It has all the possibilities of creating yet another "movement," this one of faux intellectuals carrying guns and stocking up on weapons for the eventual takeover of the government. THINKING by modern extremists isn't often practiced.

 

[MaggieMae]

the book has been a fool proof indicator of intelligence. Idiots hate it. Nuff said.

true... Another good test of intelligence is when someone wears headphones, do they yell when they try to talk to you ? It's because they can't hear themselves, and can't compensate

How about when you're driving and you're trying to see out the passenger window when you are about to pull out... If they lean forward at the same time you do...

Liberal idiots get all trotsky when the book gets mentioned

Yes, only liberals use headphones and talk loud. Dumb shit. This is why I, personally, can never take you people seriously.

 

[JakeStarkey]

REALLY? Unlike you I am not the one that calls America a democracy, deomcratic republic, or a social democracy. All are controlled by the majority, they are mob rule. You will only see me address America as a Constitutional Republic. Because the officials are elected as representatives of the people, and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over citizens.

I wrote, "Capitalism is economics, bigreb, while social democracy is a reform movement. Neither conflicts with the constitutional Republic. Let's review for you: (1) the Constitution is the ultimate law of the land; (2) a Republic is governed by republican representation, the election of representatives by the people. You with me on this?"

Stay with what I wrote, bud, and tell me how that conflicts with a constitutional republic?

 

[washamericom]

bill gates, warren buffet, mark zuckerberg... only interested in profit... howard hughs, the rockefellers...?

 

[bigrebnc1775]

REALLY? Unlike you I am not the one that calls America a democracy, deomcratic republic, or a social democracy. All are controlled by the majority, they are mob rule. You will only see me address America as a Constitutional Republic. Because the officials are elected as representatives of the people, and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over citizens.

I wrote, "Capitalism is economics, bigreb, while social democracy is a reform movement. Neither conflicts with the constitutional Republic. Let's review for you: (1) the Constitution is the ultimate law of the land; (2) a Republic is governed by republican representation, the election of representatives by the people. You with me on this?"

Stay with what I wrote, bud, and tell me how that conflicts with a constitutional republic?

Democracy majority rule mob rule
conflicts with
Constitutional Republic, Rule by law.
BUB

 

[Misty]

Ok, I 've read about Ayn Rand for 5 minutes, now I'm an expert. Let's discuss the mystery of her appeal to Conservatives, starting with this:

My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.
—Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
Anyone?

"Productive achievement as his noblest activity". This is surely not what liberals want. They want money from the productive activity to give to those without productive activity.

'his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life'...

...what if one is most happy when one is also unproductive?

she believed that man should be happy by being productive

if one is happy being non productive then in her mind, he is neither noble nor heroic.

It's a conservative philosophy so it doesn't work if you don't share her belief that being productive includes being happy.

 

[JakeStarkey]

You are ignoring the constitutional and factual reality that "(2) a Republic is governed by republican representation, the election of representatives by the people. "

Americans will not permit militia soviets, bigreb, in the U.S., because that is what you are implying.

 

[MaggieMae]

I have long been an Ayn Rand advocate and supporter. There is a movie based on one of her books, "The Fountainhead" and I loved watching it 3 times, from Netflix. Some great actors. Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal ( in her debut performance). HOT movie.

Humm...I've never heard of this movie, I'm going to have to check it out.

the fountainhead is awesome too, there aren't too many movies i'll watch in black and white.
she didn't write many novels. we the living...
you might also check out some of the interviews with ayn...



live television...

Oh dear, for someone so interested in reconnecting the past and applying it to the present, you don't like to watch black and white movies? I'm shocked. Do you realize before I-Phones, there were landlines with <gasp> telephone numbers we had to force ourselves to DIAL? And before that, Bell Telephone employed thousands of people across the world just to connect us? We actually had to talk to an operator. "America" is rich in history, not just your selected versions of it. The film archives hold thousands of black and white movies which send political messages. Perhaps you should check a few out. But I'm sure they won't all please your own brand of modern politics.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

You are ignoring the constitutional and factual reality that "(2) a Republic is governed by republican representation, the election of representatives by the people. "

Americans will not permit militia soviets, bigreb, in the U.S., because that is what you are implying.

REALLY? Unlike you I am not the one that calls America a democracy, deomcratic republic, or a social democracy. All are controlled by the majority, they are mob rule. You will only see me address America as a Constitutional Republic. Because the officials are elected as representatives of the people, and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over citizens.

I wrote, "Capitalism is economics, bigreb, while social democracy is a reform movement. Neither conflicts with the constitutional Republic. Let's review for you: (1) the Constitution is the ultimate law of the land; (2) a Republic is governed by republican representation, the election of representatives by the people. You with me on this?"

Stay with what I wrote, bud, and tell me how that conflicts with a constitutional republic?

Democracy majority rule mob rule
conflicts with
Constitutional Republic, Rule by law.
BUB

No here's what I am implying ^^^^^^^^^

 

[MaggieMae]

Ayn Rand is perhaps one of the worst authors I've ever wasted my time on. I got through 3/4ths of the Fountainhead before I tossed the book where it belonged..the trash.

It's comforting to know that before she died..she, like many Americans, had to rely on SSI because she went broke due to Medical expenses.

The irony was thick with this one.

So did my ex-husband who was uber conservative. Even before he got sick, however, that didn't stop him from gaming the system whenever he could, i.e., applying for an additional Social Security card so he could work under the table and only declare the meager income he did have to report, then write-off made up expenses. Yeah, he was a real piece of work, but Nixon and Reagan were his HEROES!! When he did get sick, he not only got food stamps, MediCal coverage and utilities assistance, but his rent was subsidized. I suspect if my ex-husband were still alive, he'd be one of those Californians screaming his head off over how much in debt the California government is because of those goddamned slackers living off welfare.

 

[MaggieMae]

you and your fellow right wing conservatives believe in a dog eat dog mentality and work diligently to assure that a smalll portion of the populace reap GREAT REWARDS while MILLIONS living in poverty

is that so wrong ?

It is. The Constitution begins with WE THE PEOPLE, not WE the SELECT FEW.

 

[Wry Catcher]

I suggest everyone read this link before seeing the movie or reading Ayn Rand; this link is short, somewhat difficult, but provides a background for framing an opinion and or voting based on a work of art or one author's subjective world view.

http://www.iep.utm.edu/ethics/#SSH1b.i

Start at the top of the link, I don't know why when opened the link goes to the middle of the article.

 

[MaggieMae]

Ayn Rand is perhaps one of the worst authors I've ever wasted my time on. I got through 3/4ths of the Fountainhead before I tossed the book where it belonged..the trash.

It's comforting to know that before she died..she, like many Americans, had to rely on SSI because she went broke due to Medical expenses.

The irony was thick with this one.

jefferson died broke, so did jesus i think... makes sense to me.

At least their consciences were clear.

 

[Modbert]

jefferson died broke, so did jesus i think... makes sense to me.

You just compared Ayn Rand to Jesus. Never mind Jefferson. Think about that for a moment.

 

[washamericom]

I enjoyed reading Atlas Shrugged, but the novel, for its purposes, fails to deliver. Rand take unbelievable characters and puts them into unbelievable scenarios, with the result of what is an unbelievable outcome. One thing I found very curious is Rand's inconsistent portrayal of the general public and public sentiment. On one hand she portrays the public as knowing, understanding, and even demanding the ideals represented by her protagonists and shows them as being frequently moved into action, like in the frequent abandonment of jobs, including railroad jobs, by many people across Rand's United States. But when it suits her she subsequently portrays the public as mindless and ignorant masses, lazy and entitled to a such a gross degree it is difficult to say whether they or the primary antagonists are the embodiment of the evil Rand suggests exists.

Rand's proper characters, both antagonists and protagonists alike, are written as if being embodies metaphors for the supreme purity of concepts Rand wished to present. This makes them believable in the Rand universe similar to how Gollum is a believable character within the LOTR universe, but unbelievable as characters that might exist in reality. While Rand does an excellent job of presenting a thoroughly thought out narrative and maintains a steady pace of developing the complexity of the plot as the story unfolds, in the end the plot itself, its developments, and Rand's suggestion about how our world might go if we so allowed it, only exists because it was so written.

incredible... you get it... this is gold... you have single handedly defined "the american people"

liberals: mindless and ignorant masses, lazy and entitled to a such a gross degree it is difficult to say whether they or the primary antagonists are the embodiment of the evil Rand suggests exists.

conservatives: knowing, understanding, and even demanding the ideals represented by her protagonists and shows them as being frequently moved into action, like in the frequent abandonment of jobs, including railroad jobs, by many people across Rand's United States.

i'm taking this to madison

Don't quit your day job. You left out that conservatives generally are CEOs of major corporations who are ONLY interested in profit, and fuck the workers who help them get there. This kind of attitude was rare in Ayn Rand's day, by the way. Also, I don't see anyone "abandoning their jobs" today because of 'ideology'. Those same CEOs eliminate jobs in order to hire cheap labor across the pond or import technical talent using H-IB visas. Hello?

this is my day job mm

 

[washamericom]

jefferson died broke, so did jesus i think... makes sense to me.

You just compared Ayn Rand to Jesus. Never mind Jefferson. Think about that for a moment.

your point. here's one... how does ayn rand differ from barrak obama ?

 

[MaggieMae]

I enjoyed reading Atlas Shrugged, but the novel, for its purposes, fails to deliver. Rand take unbelievable characters and puts them into unbelievable scenarios, with the result of what is an unbelievable outcome. One thing I found very curious is Rand's inconsistent portrayal of the general public and public sentiment. On one hand she portrays the public as knowing, understanding, and even demanding the ideals represented by her protagonists and shows them as being frequently moved into action, like in the frequent abandonment of jobs, including railroad jobs, by many people across Rand's United States. But when it suits her she subsequently portrays the public as mindless and ignorant masses, lazy and entitled to a such a gross degree it is difficult to say whether they or the primary antagonists are the embodiment of the evil Rand suggests exists.

Well it is a work of fiction you know. Rand had a world view just as you have a world view. The reason it failed to deliver for you is because those world views don't line up. It isn't because her world view is wrong and your's is right. And I don't recall any inconsistency in her portrayal of the public. There wasn't a majority singular view of the general public because that isn't reality. Some people had one set of beliefs while other had another just like the real world. Believe it or not the majority of the country is not liberal. This country is split ideologically pretty much 50/50.

Rand's proper characters, both antagonists and protagonists alike, are written as if being embodies metaphors for the supreme purity of concepts Rand wished to present. This makes them believable in the Rand universe similar to how Gollum is a believable character within the LOTR universe, but unbelievable as characters that might exist in reality. While Rand does an excellent job of presenting a thoroughly thought out narrative and maintains a steady pace of developing the complexity of the plot as the story unfolds, in the end the plot itself, its developments, and Rand's suggestion about how our world might go if we so allowed it, only exists because it was so written.

On the contrary what happened in the book very much parllels what is really happening. In the book the producers and manufacturers decided they were tired of being dictated to by overzealous and derisive elements of society......so they left. The only difference is instead of the people leaving to form their own society with the rules they want, they are leaving to other countries to produce what they want.

The point I got from the book is this is what will happen if bearucrats keep punishing the producers, those that provide jobs, and generally treating them as evil and regulating them as such. Those producers may just decide to take their proverbial 'ball' and go elsehwere and then you'll be sorry when there aren't more jobs and there isn't anyone willing to produce the thing you wanted all the while deriding the peope that produced it as evil. That isn't a fairy tale ending. That indeed can and in many cases already has happened.

If anyone feels like they're being abused, they have the choice to continue to take it or to leave. If that person is an employee, they quit and find a new job.

If that person is a mover and shaker, they will do what is required. Companies move to new cities, to new countries or take as much abuse as they can and then go out of business.

Governments who provide enough abuse to those who drive the economy will find that those who are driving things will vanish from the scene. This not a fantasy. It's a cautionary tale.

I'd like to see a list somewhere of all those companies/corporations which were "forced" to move out of the country because of higher taxes or to avoid government regulations and not because they could take advantage of cheap labor or operate in a country that doesn't care about pollution (for example). There are companies who move to a different state because of high STATE taxes, but moving out of the country means just one thing: Corporate greed which benefits only the upper echelon of those companies.

 

[washamericom]

Humm...I've never heard of this movie, I'm going to have to check it out.

the fountainhead is awesome too, there aren't too many movies i'll watch in black and white.
she didn't write many novels. we the living...
you might also check out some of the interviews with ayn...



live television...

Oh dear, for someone so interested in reconnecting the past and applying it to the present, you don't like to watch black and white movies? I'm shocked. Do you realize before I-Phones, there were landlines with <gasp> telephone numbers we had to force ourselves to DIAL? And before that, Bell Telephone employed thousands of people across the world just to connect us? We actually had to talk to an operator. "America" is rich in history, not just your selected versions of it. The film archives hold thousands of black and white movies which send political messages. Perhaps you should check a few out. But I'm sure they won't all please your own brand of modern politics.

seems a little consescending...